Tricia Added More Movement To Her Regular Routine And Lost 100 Pounds

How I Gained It: I am the youngest of three girls and my sisters are twins. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, perfect little size four hourglass-shaped twins. Then there was me. My nickname was “Chubby” and even though I was around a size 10 for my teen years, I felt fat.

I went for a jog one day when I was around 14 past some boys out on the basketball court, and I heard one of the boys ask “Who is that?” For half a second my heart soared because someone had noticed me, but then the other boy answered, “Its one of the Malone girls.” The first asked, “Grace or Jeanne?” and the other answered, “No, the ugly one.” He didn’t know I could hear, he wasn’t trying to be mean, but that was how I was known. I was the fat sister. I am not saying that feeling fat made me gain weight. The truth is I was 218 pounds because I love food, and the little voice in my head that says “Don’t eat that” is not nearly as loud or as fun as the joy I get from eating.

Breaking Point: I found out I was pregnant in June 2011. At my very first doctor appointment, I stepped on the scale and it read 218.6. I nearly fell off the scale. The nurse made a note on the chart and asked, “About how much do you think you have gained so far?” I was only six weeks along, and I hadn’t been feeling well, so I knew I had probably lost weight in the last few weeks, but I lied and told her I had gained five pounds just so I could pretend the baby was part of the reason for my weight. I decided right then that as soon as my baby was born I was going to lose all the extra weight.

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How I Lost It: My youngest was born January 20, 2012. My goal was to be hot — and hopefully 125 pounds — by the time I went to a wedding on September 30, 2012. It seemed like such an ambitious goal at the time, since I had only left the hospital with baby in tow that day. I was 213 pounds at the time, and that was actually five pounds less than I had been before I got pregnant. I needed to drop 88 pounds in about 8 months. I thought it was aggressive, but doable. Then I remembered I would be up all night with baby and up all day with toddler and it seemed impossible. But I will say I have one thing working for me: I am stubborn. I decided I was going to eat fewer calories than I burn and I was going to keep doing it even if the scale didn’t always tell me what I wanted to hear.

While I was pregnant, I had gestational diabetes and needed to take my blood sugar regularly and track everything I ate. I also had some tummy troubles and began having to eat in small amounts several times a day. By the time my little one came around this was normal for me, so I continued eating a balanced blood sugar diet. I focused on lean meats, lots of veggies and fiber, and limited my sugar and empty carb intake. I gave up all fast food, which was very challenging with a newborn at home and a hungry husband, teenagers and toddler to feed. Everyday, whether I felt like it or not, I went into the kitchen and made something healthy for dinner. I wanted to give up more times than I could count, but that date was coming and I was either going to be the fat sister or I was going to be hot.

I found adding a regular exercise into my routine a little too challenging on no sleep with a tiny baby in my arms and a toddler wrapped around my legs, so I vowed to become more active. I parked farther away, I took the stairs, I carried my baby everywhere, I danced in the living room with my toddler, I took him to the park, I looked through the mail standing up, I did the hard chores I usually assigned to my teenagers, I let the toddler ride on my shoulders around the house. When summer rolled around, I swam every day, but that was more for some sanity time.

I made my goal, plus five pounds extra for vacation cushion, and I kept it a secret. That was harder than the diet! My husband and 4 year old walked up to my sister’s house first. I grabbed my bag from the car and walked in. Both twins were there and they looked puzzled for a moment. One of them said, “Where is the rest of you?” The other just stood with her mouth open. I was actually thinner than either of them for the first time in my life. They insisted upon recording the moment when my mom saw me. I had a lot of moments like that over the next few weeks.

I would love to say the greatest part of being thin is feeling healthy, but I have discovered I am too vain for that! The best part is having people make eye contact with me. I am outgoing and friendly, but it wears on your soul to have people look away every time when you smile at them. Some women are nice enough to smile back, but most people didn’t even see me.

Clothes fit and look cute! I needed a whole new wardrobe! I don’t have to run from the camera now. And I have energy! My precious little angel still does not sleep, but I am able to function during the day and even keep up with my 4 year old and the herd of teenagers that descends upon my house in the afternoons.

Funny downsides no one tells you about: I’m cold! I live in Arizona and the house is around 74 degrees, and I am wearing fuzzy socks and a robe and I am still cold. Seats everywhere are hard! I went to Disneyland a couple months ago, and I must have bruised my butt bones dozens of times. And seat belt panic! When I ride in my car I panic at least once every trip thinking I forgot to buckle my seatbelt because I no longer feel it cutting into me.

In the end, we have to look at the reasons we were where we were, and then either let them go or figure out a way to work with them.

Having to buy an entire new wardrobe was a great reward. I bought my wardrobe ahead of time (spread the buying out over a year) and was so excited to finally wear some of the clothes. Although, the bras were too big! And some of the shirts are still a little snug.

Yes. 90% of weight loss is diet. Exercise whether structured or just adding lots of movement won’t fix your weight if you just eat more to compensate. I started adjusting what I was eating before I even gave birth. I had to eat fewer carbs for the sake of my gestational diabetes and by the time baby came around some of the carb addiction was getting under control. I started with the easier meals to control. For me that was breakfast and lunch because I could eat the same thing everyday if needed to keep it simple. That way I could also adjust my family’s diet more slowly. As you can image all those boys were not anxious to switch from burgers to salads for dinner. I make the world’s best mac&cheese so they needed to be gradually stepped down into higher protein higher fiber lower carb and lower fat. It was good for them though. All of my older boys have lost weight and are healthier. Calorie cutting was gradual at first and a bit more aggressive towards the end. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that just because you lose weight fast you cannot keep it off. Some people have to quit food addiction the way they have quit smoking or drinking but for others it is not an addiction so they can make a more gradual approach. I am only about 8lbs heavier than my lightest weight and it has been 5yrs now so look honestly at why you are eating and decide on an approach. If you eat because you are bored then eating less when you are bored will only be a temporary fix, not being bored will fix the problem. If you eat when you are nervous then eating less when you are nervous is a temporary fix and you have to develop more healthy coping mechanisms an that may mean giving up nervous eating entirely to force yourself to do that. If you eat because your stomach is growling and the food taste good then it is a matter of will power and you just have to eat a bit less even though you like it. Every reason has an approach and every person is different but it always starts by being honest.

You look amazing! My story is similar to yours as I was always labeled “the fat one”. I have a beautiful 5 year old little girl, a 15 year old little sister, an amazing husband, work part time as a nurse, and am back in nursing school full time to further my education. Finding time to exercise and prepare healthy meals seems so challenging some days. Thank you for the inspiration to not give up!

My mom just shared this on FB so I didn’t know this was here previously. I can assure you the pictures are real, because they are me. Thank you for all the kind comments! It is nearly 3yrs since I reached my goal and I am still small and still active. Many people have this notion that you can either have fast or lasting results but not both. Its not true. Sometimes you have to retrain yourself to stop looking at food as reward and just like any dependency some people do better with cold turkey and others do better with step down approach. Another thing that I have learned in the last 3yrs is that loose skin gets better with time. That after picture is rather far away but I had a good bit of loose skin at that point, the vast majority of which is gone now thankfully. There was a lot of improvement in the first year and more in the last few months since I joined a gym and started putting a bit of muscle under it. If you want to see more up to date pictures (and better ones than Huffington chose to use) look me up on MyFitnessPal triciab79

For the people saying it’s not the same woman here’s a lil FYI I was friends with her on my fitness pal and followed her. She has before and after pics with her family as well… it most certainly is her! Don’t discredit the hard work this woman has done just because her her results are awesome. Anyone who puts their mind to it can have the same outcome. Congrats Tricia you earned this girl!

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am around your age and I am 220 and thinking of trying to start a family. Your story has further motivated me to lose weight before baby and add more movement to my daily routine.

Awesome! You are amazing. Congrats! Great discipline. I love the way you describe your journey. By the way, you look absolutely drop dead gorgeous. But more importantly, from the sound of it you are happy and smiling now. I got about 60 lbs to go.

I really love this page! It is so motivating! Losing weight is so much harder than putting it on and I feel like I am constantly planning the next meal, or snack, or fitness class. It is really awesome to see real people who have the same responsibilities and obstacles that I do find success. Thank you to everyone who shares their story. You are truly an inspiration!

LOL Girl you are not kidding about the butt bone!! After losing weight I sat on the bleachers at school to watch a volleyball game..man that hurt! Rock on with your hot self!!! Very inspiring as I have about 20 more I want to lose myself!!! You look hot. You have always been amazing!

I like how the title says “added more movement to her regular routine….” Lol
She worked for it, changed her diet, which is the #1 thing, and became active. You can’t just “stand up to read the mail. Funny they made it found like she didn’t have to do much to lose 100 lbs. good for her!!!! That’s awesome!

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